Chart of the Day: 1 in 2 Singaporean adults have post-secondary qualifications today

Up from 1 in 3 in 2003.

Singaporean adults are becoming more educated in the formal sense, as half of the residential population aged 25 years and over had at least post-secondary qualifications in 2013, up from 32% in 2003.

The recent population data published by SingStat revealed that over the last decade, there were higher proportions having tertiary qualifications.

SingStat adds that University graduates constituted 27% of the resident population in 2013, compared to 16% a decade ago. Residents with diploma & professional qualifications also accounted for a larger share at 14% in 2013, up from 9.6% in 2003. 

Here's more from SingStat:

There were higher proportions with tertiary qualifications over the past decade across all age groups. This was particularly so among the younger age groups. 

Among residents aged 25-34 years in 2013, the proportion of university graduates went up to 51% from 34% in 2003. The proportion of residents with diploma & professional qualifications increased by a smaller extent, from 20 per cent to 24 per cent over the same period. 

Among those aged 35-44 years, 43 per cent held university qualifications and 20% held diploma & professional qualifications in 2013, an increase from the corresponding proportions of 19% and 10% a decade ago.
Among residents aged 25 years and over, the average number of years of schooling continued to rise and reached 10.5 years in 2013.